Tilted stool



April 4, 1967 o. BARTH v 3,312,437

TILTED STOOL Filed Oct. 25, 1965 INVENTOR. 07'7'0 542m; DECEASED 8) VALERIE 8427/1; LEGAL EEPEESAWMT/VE' F lg. 5 BY Attorney United States Patent Ofiice 3,312,437 Patented Apr. 4, 1967 3,312,437 TILTED STOOL Otto Barth, deceased, late of Paris, France, by Valerie Barth, legal representative, Innstrasse 15, Vienna, Austria Filed Oct. 23, 1965, Ser. No. 504,256 Claims priority, application France, Mar. 24, 1961, 856,741, Patent 1,292,400 2 Claims. (Cl. 248-158) The present invention relates to stools of the kind wherein a seat is joined to a weighted convex base by a support column.

An object of the invention is to provide a stool of this general type which is stable in a normal upright position and semi-stable in an inclined position into which it can be tilted so as to be held in that position by the body of a user leaning against its seat.

According to the invention there is provided a stool comprising a seat portion joined to a weighted base which has a downwardly convex lateral surface area, or several areas equispaced from the base axis adapted to support the stool upon cOntacting the floor 'when the stool is tilted out of its normal upright position; in that normal position the stool rests on the floor with a flat or concave area of its base. The weighting of the base is so chosen that the center of gravity of the stool comes to lie inwardly of the perimeter of the central contact area in its tilted state. The support areas may be contiguous, thus forming part of a continuous annular surface, or may be peripherally spaced apart, as by being individually disposed on three or more legs projecting generally radially from the base.

In order that the tilted stoolshould not slide across the floor under pressure of a person leaning against it, I prefer to provide the support areas with slip-resistant coatings (e.g., of rubber) designed for high-friction contact With the floor.

The invention will be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side-elevational view (parts broken away) of a stool embodying the invention, shown in its normal or upright position;

FIG. 2 is a similar view showing the same stool tilted into a stable inclined position;

FIG. 3 is a sectional detail view of a slightly modified base forming part of a stool similar to that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2; W

FIG. 4 shows the base of another stool embodying the invention; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line V-V of FIG. 4.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a stool comprises a round seat 1, preferably padded, a support column 2, and a weighted base 3 of a heavy material, e.g., cast iron, concrete or the like. The base 3 is formed on its underside with a circular contact area of diameter A centered on the axis of column 2. This insures that, when in its vertical position, the stool is stable and may be used without any feeling of insecurity. In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 this contact area is defined by the rim of a concave central portion 3a of the base.

The center of gravity CG of the stool is so low as to remain above the contact area A even when the stool is tilted into the position shown in FIG. 2. Thus, the stool Will automatically return to the vertical position of FIG. 1 when released from an inclined position up to a maximum angle of tilt on here shown to be about 30.

The lower surface of the base 3 is provided with a covering 4 of a slip-resistant material, such as rubber, which forms a series of annular corrugations in a zone surrounding the central area A; any part of this zone constitutes a supporting area on which the base 3 may come to rest against the floor upon a tilting of the stool by the aforementioned angle a.

The anti-slip covering may also extend across the contact area A, as shown at 4a in FIG. 3.

A modified stool 10', having the same characteristics, is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The support column 2 of this stool is fixed to its base having a central boss-.5 with three peripherally equispaced legs 6. These legs establish three points 6a of contact with the floor when the stool is vertical. The legs 6 are curved with a downward convexity at their ends 7 which are provided with anti-skid caps 8. The boss 5 is again suitably weighted so that the center of gravity CG of the overall structure is above a circular contact area of radius A which is defined by the nadirs 6a of the legs 6 and on which the stool normally rests. In the tilted position of FIG. 4, with the angle of inclination on again approximately equal to 30, the stool 10' is semi-stable :as it rests on two of its legs and contacts the ground with their respective caps 8 constituting the supporting areas of this embodiment. The nadirs 6a are, of course, tangent to a common plane transverse to the axis of column 2, i.e. the plane of the floor when the stool is upright, as is also true of the periphery of base portion 3a in FIGS. 1 and 3.

It will be noted that, in both disclosed embodiments, the lower base surface forms a continuous transition from the periphery of the central contact area to the outwardly located supporting areas 4 or 7, 8 so that the tilting and the re-erection of the stool proceeds smoothly. Since the center of gravity CG or CG of the tilted stool has only a small moment arm with reference to the supporting area engaging'the floor, the restoring force effective under these circumstances can be counterbalanced by a small part of the weight of a partly seated occupant so that a measure of stability exists also in that case. This semistability is enhanced by the fact that the diameter of seat 1 is smaller than that of base 3 or 5, 6 and is only slightly larger than the diameter A or A of the central area.

What is claimed is:

1. A tiltable stool comprising a weighted base, a column rising centrally from said base and a seat supported on said column; said base being provided with a central boss having at least three peripherally spaced, generally radially extending legs with a downwardly convex curvature whose nadirs normally contact the floor, said legs having substantially straight outward extensions beyond said nadirs which are tilted upwardly for supporting the stool in a semi-stable position of inclination of said column in which said base rests on the floor by the outward extensions of two adjoining legs.

2. A stool as defined-in claim 1 wherein said outward extensions are provided with anti-slip caps.

(References on following page) 3 4 References Cited by the Examiner 2,364,794 12/ 1944 Koch 248-158 UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,994,152 8/1961 Donahue 248188.9 720,549 2/1903 Adler 248-412 FOREIGN PATENTS 763,306 6/1904 Miller 248--188.9 5 1,042,842 6/ 1953 France. 1,670,525 5/1928 Savery 23243.2 876,471 9/1961 Great Britain. 1,694,617 12/1928 Brown 243188-7 602,567 3/1960 Italy. 2,014,290 9/1935 Pohlman 35-46 2,103,095 12/ 1937 Schermerhorn 248-188.9 CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner.

2,218,583 10/1940 Marthaler 248188.7 10 

1. A TILTABLE STOOL COMPRISING A WEIGHTED BASE, A COLUMN RISING CENTRALLY FROM SAID BASE AND A SEAT SUPPORTED ON SAID COLUMN; SAID BASE BEING PROVIDED WITH A CENTRAL BOSS HAVING AT LEAST THREE PERIPHERALLY SPACED, GENERALLY RADIALLY EXTENDING LEGS WITH A DOWNWARDLY CONVEX CURVATURE WHOSE NADIRS NORMALLY CONTACT THE FLOOR, SAID LEGS HAVING SUBSTANTIALLY STRAIGHT OUTWARD EXTENSIONS BEYOND SAID NADIRS WHICH ARE TILTED UPWARDLY FOR SUPPORTING THE STOOL IN A SEMI-STABLE POSITION OF INCLINATION OF SAID COLUMN IN WHICH SAID BASE RESTS ON THE FLOOR BY THE OUTWARD EXTENSIONS OF TWO ADJOINING LEGS. 